Davis Bertans is sitting out NBA restart to protect his future ... the Celtics' impact and who else might sit?

We already know about several NBA players that won’t play in the Orlando bubble due to injury or surgery recover (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bojan Bogdanovic, John Wall, Kelly Oubre Jr.). However, the first healthy prominent NBA name (Wizards forward Davis Bertans) indicated he planned on not taking part in Orlando via a report via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The decision from Bertans should not come as a major surprise given his situation. The 27-year-old was in the midst of a career-year for the Wizards in the final year of his contract. He was averaging 15.4 ppg on the season and shooting a tremendous 42 percent from 3-point range. All of those factors made him a popular trade target for the Celtics and other contenders back in February but the Wizards held onto the sharpshooter with the hopes of re-signing him this offseason.

With the NBA’s restart looming next month, Bertans would be set to risk tens of millions of dollars in future earnings if he suffered a serious injury in the bubble before hitting the open market. Bertans has already suffered two ACL injuries so that’s understandably a risk he didn’t want to take due to a shortened training camp period on a team with little chance of making the postseason in Washington. Bertans will give up roughly $520,000 of his salary according to Bobby Marks of ESPN.com for sitting out in Orlando but stands to make far more in free agency this fall knowing he did not diminish his stock via injury or a lackluster performance in the bubble.

We already covered here at BSJ over the weekend why the Celtics declining to add a role player on an expiring deal in February looks like a wise choice now in the wake of this revamped schedule and this choice by Bertans also adds to that case. The Wizards will be able to replace Bertans on their 15-man roster with a replacement player if they choose to before heading to Orlando but it’s safe to say he will be far from the only player declining to take part in the NBA restart due to financial risk.

The Celtics stand to benefit more than most teams from Bertans' absence since they are projected to face the Wizards twice over eight seeding (regular season) games in Orlando (full schedule to be announced this week). No Bertans (the Wiz’s second-leading scorer) should help ensure the Celtics hold onto the No. 3 seed in the East over the Heat and give them a better chance of catching the Raptors for the No. 2 spot if they can put together a 6-2 or 7-1 stretch and make up a three-game deficit.

Bertans’ predicament begs the question though: Which players on the Celtics or other teams around the league that find themselves in a similar situation from a contractual risk standpoint (low upside in present, high downside for future) when it comes to competing in Orlando.

The good news for the Celtics? Nearly the entire roster is locked up through at least next season at this point. Potential free agents like Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter have player options so they are protected for next season in the case of a serious injury in Florida. Jayson Tatum’s situation has already been covered here at BSJ and league sources continue to indicate that he plans on playing in Orlando. Daniel Theis has a team option at $5 million for 2020-21 that should be a bargain for Boston no matter what happens to the salary cap, so the center should feel secure about his situation as well despite a lengthy injury history.

In fact, the only two current Celtics that will likely become unrestricted free agents this summer are Brad Wanamaker and Javonte Green (non-guaranteed deal). Both of those guys aren’t exactly risking much in future earnings like Bertans would be by playing and each stand to improve their stock in the eyes of Celtics and other teams perhaps with a strong showing in Orlando during any minutes they get.

So with the minimal financial risk involved for most Celtics combined with the allure of competing for a title as a true contender, a player’s future free agent earnings shouldn’t be a primary motive if any Celtic chooses not to take part in the NBA restart. The league is actually quite lucky that the 2020 free agency class is incredibly weak as a whole with most stars across the league are already locked up on long-term deals. Otherwise, we might be seeing some big names go the Bertans route and stay home.

There will be some role players however in the final year of their current deals that may pass on taking a risk in Orlando to protect future earnings like Bertans. A sample of some names that find themselves currently in similar financial situations (expiring deal).

Orlando
DJ Augustin

Brooklyn
Joe Harris

Miami
Goran Dragic
Jae Crowder

Toronto
Fred VanVleet
Marc Gasol
Serge Ibaka

Phoenix
Aron Baynes
Dario Saric

San Antonio
Jakob Poeltl

Sacramento
Bogdan Bogdanovic

New Orleans
Derrick Favors
E’Twaun Moore
Brandon Ingram

Portland
Hassan Whiteside

Oklahoma City
Danilo Gallinari

Denver
Jerami Grant
Paul Millsap

LA Clippers
Montrezl Harrell
Marcus Morris

Final thoughts: It’s hard to envision players on true contenders like the Clippers, Raptors and Nuggets sitting out since a strong postseason run could elevate those players’ stock more on the open market. For bubble teams like Sacramento, New Orleans, Phoenix and Brooklyn, it would not be a surprise to see any of these players follow in Bertans’ footsteps to protect themselves financially for the future. Every player has a challenging choice on whether or not they want to play in the bubble but the names on this list will have some of the toughest choices to make, weighing their commitment to the team against an elevated injury and health risk that could impact their financial future. Look for more names to surface ahead of the deadline on Wednesday to notify teams.